Robert Louis Stevenson :: English Language Poet :: English Poetry Robert Louis Stevenson :: Poet Home :: Poetry :: Short Stories :: Contact :: Robert Louis Stevenson Robert Louis (Balfour) Stevenson (November 13, 1850–December 3, 1894), was a Scottish novelist, poet, and travel writer, and a leading representative of Neo-romanticism in English literature. He was the man who "seemed to pick the right word up on the point of his pen, like a man playing spillikins", as G. K. Chesterton put it. He was also greatly admired by many authors, including Jorge Luis Borges, Ernest Hemingway, Rudyard Kipling and Vladimir Nabokov. [1] Most modernist writers dismissed him, however, because he was popular and did not write within their narrow definition of literature. It is only recently that critics have begun to look beyond Stevenson's popularity and allow him a place in the canon.

Contents 3 Journey to the Pacific 4 Last years 6.7.1 Non-fiction works on the Pacific 7 Works in Scots 12 External links Early life Stevenson[2] was born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson,[3] in Edinburgh, Scotland, on November 13, 1850. His father was Thomas Stevenson, and his grandfather was Robert Stevenson; both were distinguished lighthouse designers and engineers, as was his great-grandfather. It was from this side of the family that he inherited his love of adventure, joy of the sea and for the open road. Through his mother he was descended from Gilbert Elliott, 1st Baronet of Minto, and was related to Arthur St. Clair. His maternal grandfather, Lewis Balfour, was a professor of moral philosophy and a minister, and Stevenson spent the greater part of his boyhood holidays in his house. "Now I often wonder", says Stevenson, "what I inherited from this old minister.

I must suppose, indeed, that he was fond of preaching sermons, and so am I, though I never heard it maintained that either of us loved to hear them." From his mother, Margaret Balfour, he inherited weak lungs (perhaps tuberculosis), that kept him constantly in "the land of the counterpane" during the winter, where his nurse spent long hours by his bedside reading from the Bible, and lives of the old Covenanters. During the summer he was encouraged to play outside, where he proved to be a wild and carefree child, and by the age of eleven his health had improved so that his parents prepared him for the University of Edinburgh by attending Edinburgh Academy, planning for him to follow his father as a lighthouse engineer. During this period he read widely and especially enjoyed Shakespeare, Walter Scott, John Bunyan and The Arabian Nights. He entered the University of Edinburgh at seventeen, but soon discovered he had neither the scientific mind nor physical endurance to succeed as an engineer. When his father took him for a voyage he found—instead of being interested in lighthouse construction—that his mind was teeming with wonderful romances about the coast and islands which they visited.

Although his father was stern, he finally allowed him to decide upon a career in literature—but first he thought it wise to finish a degree in law, so that he might have something to fall back upon. Stevenson followed this course and by the age of twenty-five passed the examinations for admission to the bar, though not until he had nearly ruined his health through work and worry. His father's lack of understanding led him to write the following protest: Say not of me that weakly I declined The labours of my sires, and fled the sea The towers we founded and the lamps we lit, To play at home with paper like a child. Marriage and travels The next four years were spent mostly in travel, and in search of a climate that would be more beneficial for his health. He made long and frequent trips to Fontainebleau, Barbizon, Grez, and Nemours, becoming a member of the artists' colonies there. He made frequent trips to Paris visiting galleries and the theatres. It was during this period he first met his future wife Fanny Vandegrift Osbourne, and made most of his lasting friends.

Among these included Sidney Colvin, his biographer and literary agent; William Henley, a collaborator in dramatic composition; Mrs. Sitwell, who helped him through a religious crisis; Andrew Lang, Edmund Gosse, and Leslie Stephen, all writers and critics. He also made the journeys described in An Inland Voyage and Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes. In addition he wrote twenty or more articles and essays which appeared in various magazines. Although it seemed to his parents he was wasting his time and being idle, he was in reality constantly studying to perfect his style of writing and broaden his knowledge of life, emerging as a man of letters. Stevenson paces in his dining room in an 1885 portrait by John Singer Sargent. His wife Fanny, seated in an Indian dress, is visible in the lower right corner. When Stevenson and Fanny Vandegrift Osbourne met in France in 1876 it was love at first sight. A few months later when she returned to her home in San Francisco, California, Stevenson was determined to follow when he learned that she was sick. His friends advised against the journey; knowing his father's temper, he sailed without even notifying his parents.

He took steerage passage on the Devonian in part to save money but also to learn how others travelled, and to increase the adventure of the journey. From New York City he traveled overland by train to California. He later wrote about the experience in An Amateur Emigrant and Across the Plains. Although it was good experience for his literature, it broke his health, and he was near death when he arrived in Monterey. He was nursed back to health by some ranchers there. In December 1879 he had recovered his health enough to continue to San Francisco, where for several months he struggled "all alone on forty-five cents a day, and sometimes less, with quantities of hard work and many heavy thoughts,"[4] in an effort to support himself through his writing; but by the end of the winter his health was broken again, and he found himself at death's door. Vandegrift — now officially divorced from her husband and recovered from her own illness — came to Stevenson's bedside and nursed him to recovery.

"After a while," he wrote, "my spirit got up again in divine frenzy, and has since kicked and spurred my vile body forward with great emphasis and success." When his father heard of his condition he cabled him money to help him through this period. In May 1880 he was married, when, as he said, he was "a mere complication of cough and bones, much fitter for an emblem of mortality than a bridegroom." With his new wife and her son, Lloyd, he traveled north of San Francisco to Napa Valley, and spent a summer honeymoon at an abandoned mining camp on Mount Saint Helena. This experience he published in The Silverado Squatters. He met Charles Warren Stoddard, co-editor of the Overland Monthly and author of South Sea Idylls, who urged Stevenson to travel to the south Pacific, an idea which would return to him many years later. In August 1880 he sailed from New York with his family back to Britain, and found his parents and his friend Sidney Colvin, on the wharf at Liverpool happy to see him return home.

Gradually his new wife was able to patch up differences between father and son and make herself a part of the new family through her charm and wit. Journey to the Pacific Portrait by John Singer Sargent, 1887. For the next seven years between 1880 and 1887 Stevenson searched in vain for a place of residence suitable to his state of health. He spent his summers at various places in Scotland and England, including Westbourne, Dorset; for his winters, he escaped to sunny France, and lived at Davos-Platz and the Chalet de Solitude at Hyeres, where, for a time, he enjoyed almost complete happiness. "I have so many things to make life sweet for me," he wrote, "it seems a pity I cannot have that other one thing — health. But though you will be angry to hear it, I believe for myself, at least, that is best.

I believed it all through my worst days, and I am not ashamed to profess it now." In spite of the blood on his handkerchief and the medicine bottle at his elbow, his optimistic spirit kept him going, and he produced the bulk of his best known work: Treasure Island, his first widely popular book; Kidnapped; The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the story which established his wider reputation; and two volumes of verse, A Child's Garden of Verses and Underwoods. On the death of his father in 1887, Stevenson felt free to follow the advice of his physician to try a complete change of climate. He started with his mother and family for Colorado; but after landing in New York they decided to spend the winter at Saranac Lake, in the Adirondacks. During the intensely cold winter Stevenson wrote a number of his best essays, including Pulvis et Umbra, he began The Master of Ballantrae, and lightheartedly planned, for the following summer, a cruise to the southern Pacific Ocean.

"The proudest moments of my life," he wrote, "have been passed in the stern-sheets of a boat with that romantic garment over my shoulders." In June 1888, Stevenson chartered the yacht Casco and set sail with his family from San Francisco. The vessel "ploughed her path of snow across the empty deep, far from any hand of help." The salt sea air and thrill of adventure for a time restored his health; and for nearly three years he wandered the eastern and central Pacific, visiting important island groups, stopping for extended stays at the Hawaiian Islands where he became a good friend of King David Kalakaua, with whom Stevenson spent much time. Furthermore, Stevenson befriended the king's niece Princess Victoria Kaiulani, who was of Scottish heritage. He also spent time at the Gilbert Islands, Tahiti and the Samoan Islands. During this period he completed The Master of Ballantrae, composed two ballads based on the legends of the islanders, and wrote The Bottle Imp. The experience of these years is preserved in his various letters and in The South Seas. Last years Portrait by Girolamo Nerli, 1892.

In 1890 he purchased four hundred acres (about 1.6 square kilometres) of land in Upolu, one of the Samoan islands. Here, after two aborted attempts to visit Scotland, he established himself, after much work, upon his estate, which he named Vailima ("Five Rivers"). His influence spread to the natives who consulted him for advice, and he soon became involved in local politics. He was convinced the European officials appointed to rule the natives were incompetent, and after many futile attempts to resolve the matter, he published A Footnote to History. This was such a stinging protest against existing conditions that it resulted in the recall of two officials, and Stevenson feared for a time it would result in his own deportation. When things had finally blown over he wrote a friend, "I used to think meanly of the plumber; but now he shines beside the politician." In addition to building his house and clearing his land and helping the natives in many ways, he found time to work at his writing.

In his enthusiasm, he felt that "there was never any man had so many irons in the fire." He wrote The Beach of Falesa, David Balfour, and Ebb Tide, as well as the Vailima Letters, during this period. For a time during 1894 Stevenson felt depressed; he wondered if he had exhausted his creative vein and completely worked himself out. He wrote that he had "overworked bitterly". He felt more clearly that, with each fresh attempt, the best he could write was "ditch water". He even feared that he might again become a helpless invalid. He rebelled against this idea: "I wish to die in my boots; no more land of counterpane for me. To be drowned, to be shot, to be thrown from a horse — ay, to be hanged rather than pass again through that slow dissolution." He then suddenly had a return of his old energy and he began work on Weir of Hermiston. "It's so good that it frightens me," he is reported to have exclaimed. He felt that this was the best work he had done.

He was convinced, "sick and well, I have had splendid life of it, grudge nothing, regret very little. take it all over, I would hardly change with any man of my time." Stevenson's tomb on Mt. Vaea Without knowing it, he was to have his wish fulfilled. During the morning of December 3, 1894, he had worked hard as usual on Weir of Hermiston. During the evening, while conversing with his wife and straining to open a bottle of wine, he suddenly fell to the ground, asking "What's the matter with me? What is this strangeness? Has my face changed?" He died within a few hours, probably of a cerebral hemorrhage, at the age of 44. The natives insisted on surrounding his body with a watch-guard during the night, and on bearing their Tusitala (Samoan for "Story Writer") upon their shoulders to nearby Mt Vaea and buried him on a spot overlooking the sea. A tablet was placed there, which bore the inscription of his 'Requiem', the piece he always had intended as his epitaph: Under the wide and starry sky, Dig the grave and let me lie.

Glad did I live and gladly die, And I laid me down with a will. This be the verse you grave for me: Here he lies where he longed to be; Home is the sailor, home from sea, And the hunter home from the hill. Modern reception Stevenson was a celebrity in his own time, but with the rise of modern literature after World War I, he was seen for much of the 20th century as a writer of the second class, relegated to children's literature and horror genres. Condemned by authors such as Virginia Woolf and Leonard Woolf, he was gradually excluded from the canon of literature taught in schools. His exclusion reached a height when in the 1973 2,000-page Oxford Anthology of English Literature Stevenson was entirely unmentioned, and the Norton Anthology of English Literature excluded him from 1968 to 2000 (1st–7th editions), including him only in the 8th edition (2006).

The late 20th century saw the start of a re-evaluation of Stevenson as an artist of great range and insight, a literary theorist, an essayist and social critic, a witness to the colonial history of the South Pacific, and a humanist. He is now being re-evaluated as a peer with authors such as Joseph Conrad (whom Stevenson influenced with his South Seas fiction) and Henry James, with new scholarly studies and organizations devoted to Stevenson.[5] No matter what the scholarly reception, Stevenson remains very popular. According to the Index Translationum, Stevenson is ranked the 25th most translated author in the world, ahead of Charles Dickens, Oscar Wilde and Edgar Allan Poe. Bibliography For a detailed list see bibliography. Novels Treasure Island (1883) His first major success, a tale of piracy, buried treasure, and adventure, has been filmed frequently. It was originally called The Sea-Cook. Its most famous character, Long John Silver, has even given his name to a chain of restaurants. The Black Arrow: A Tale of the Two Roses (1883) An historical adventure novel and romance set during the Wars of the Roses.

This novel presents the Wars of the Roses, as it were, in miniature. Prince Otto (1885) Stevenson’s second full-length narrative, an action romance set in the imaginary Germanic state of Grünewald. Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1886), a novella about a dual personality much depicted in plays and films, also influential in the growth of understanding of the subconscious mind through its treatment of a kind and intelligent physician who turns into a psychopathic monster after imbibing a drug intended to separate good from evil in a personality. Kidnapped (1886) is a historical novel that tells of the boy David Balfour's pursuit of his inheritance and his alliance with Alan Breck in the intrigues of Jacobite troubles in Scotland. The Master of Ballantrae (1889), a masterful tale of revenge, set in Scotland, America, and India. The Wrong Box (1889); co-written with Lloyd Osbourne. A comic novel of a tontine, also filmed (1966). A tontine is a group life-insurance policy in which all the benefits go to the last survivor.

Both in the novel and in real life, it is an incentive to murder, and no longer legal in most countries. The Wrecker (1892); co-written with Lloyd Osbourne. Catriona (1893), also known as David Balfour, is a sequel to Kidnapped, telling of Balfour's further adventures. The Ebb Tide (1894); co-written with Lloyd Osbourne. Weir of Hermiston (1896). Unfinished at the time of Stevenson's death, considered to have promised great artistic growth. St. Ives: being the Adventures of a French Prisoner in England (1897). Unfinished at the time of Stevenson's death, the novel was completed by Arthur Quiller-Couch. Short story collections More New Arabian Nights:The Dynamiter (1885); co-written with Fanny Van De Grift Stevenson The Merry Men and Other Tales and Fables (1887) Island Nights' Entertainments (also known as South Sea Tales) (1893) Short stories List of short stories sorted chronologically. Note: does not include collaborations with Fanny found in More New Arabian Nights:The Dynamiter.

Title Virginibus Puerisque, and Other Papers (1881) Familiar Studies of Men and Books (1882) Memories and Portraits (1887), a collection of essays. Father Damien: an Open Letter to the Rev. Dr. Hyde of Honolulu (1890) Vailima Letters (1895) The New Lighthouse on the Dhu Heartach Rock, Argyllshire (1995). Based on an 1872 manuscript edited by R. G. Swearingen. California. Silverado Museum. Poetry A Child's Garden of Verses (1885), written for children but also popular with their parents. Includes such favourites as "My Shadow" and "The Lamplighter". Often thought to represent a positive reflection of the author's sickly childhood. Underwoods (1887), a collection of poetry written in both English and Scots.

Songs of Travel and Other Verses (1896) Ballads (1891) Travel writing An Inland Voyage (1878), travels with a friend in a "Rob Roy" canoe from Antwerp (Belgium) to Pontoise, just north of Paris. Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes (1879), solo hiking in the mountains of Cévennes (south-central France), one of the first books to present hiking and camping as recreational activities. It tells of commissioning one of the first sleeping bags. The Silverado Squatters (1883). An unconventional honeymoon trip to an abandoned mining camp in Napa Valley, California with his new wife Fanny and her son Lloyd. Across the Plains (written in 1879–80, published in 1892). Second leg of his journey, by train from New York to California (then picks up with The Silverado Squatters). Also includes other travel essays. The Amateur Emigrant (written 1879–80, published 1895). An account of the first leg of his journey to California, by ship from Europe to New York.

Andrew Noble (From the Clyde to California: Robert Louis Stevenson’s Emigrant Journey, 1985) considers it to be his finest work. Island literature Although not well known, his island fiction and non-fiction is among the most valuable and collected of the 19th century body of work that addresses the Pacific area. Non-fiction works on the Pacific In the South Seas. A collection of Stevenson's articles and essays on his travels in the Pacific. A Footnote to History, Eight Years of Trouble in Samoa (1892). Works in Scots Stevenson also wrote poetry and prose in Scots. See ScotsteXt Musical compositions Stevenson was an amateur composer who wrote songs typical of California in the 1880s, salon-type music, entertaining rather than serious. A flageolet player, Stevenson had studied harmony and simple counterpoint and knew such basic instrumental techniques as transposition. Some song titles include "Fanfare", "Tune for Flageolet", "Habanera", and "Quadrille". Robert Hughes in 1968 arranged a number of Stevenson's songs for chamber orchestra, which went on a tour of the Pacific Northwest in that year. [1] Notes ^ R.H.W.

Dillard, Introduction to Treasure Island, by Signet Classics, 1998. ISBN 0-451-52704-6. See Page XIII ^ Unless otherwise noted, the biography of Stevenson in this article, from birth to death, was adapted from James Cloyd Bowman (1918) (see sources) ^ When Stevenson was around 18 years old he changed the spelling of 'Lewis' to 'Louis'. ^ The Amateur Emigrant ^ Stephen Arata (2006). "Robert Louis Stevenson". David Scott Kastan (ed.). The Oxford Encyclopedia of British Literature. Vol. 5: 99-102 Sources Bowman, James Cloyd (1918). An Inland Voyage and Travels with a Donkey. O'Brien, Robert.

This Is San Francisco, 1948, reprint Chronicle Books 1994 Further reading Claire Harman, Robert Louis Stevenson: A Biography, HarperCollins, ISBN 0-00-711321-8 [reviewed by Matthew Sturgis in Times Literary Supplement, 11 March 2005, page 8] Works by Robert Louis Stevenson at Project Gutenberg Essays by Stevenson at Quotidiana.org 151 poems by Robert Louis Stevenson, at Poetry Archive "Henry David Thoreau: His Character and Opinions", by Robert Louis Stevenson Fables, by Robert Louis Stevenson, at The University of Wisconsin Digital Collections Center. Works by Robert Louis Stevenson in PDF at Ria Press. Biographies and commentaries Robert Louis Stevenson - Autograph Document Signed | Autographs & Manuscripts | HistoryForSale Item 76204 ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON - AUTOGRAPH DOCUMENT SIGNED - DOCUMENT 76204 ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON Scottish essayist, author and poet. Autograph Document Signed: "R. L. Stevenson", 1p, 7x4. No place, no date. To H. J.

Morans, Esq. In full: "Please pay bearer £3 gold." Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894) signed this note authorizing three pounds gold to be paid to the bearer. Known for his adventurous tales, Stevenson was an avid traveler who had begun writing in his teens. His first successful novel, Treasure Island (1883), was written for his stepson, Lloyd; it was originally entitled The Sea-Cook and appeared in serialized form in Young Folks (1881-1882) - a paper for young boys. He demonstrated his aptitude for poetry when he wrote A Child's Garden of Verses (1885). In 1889, Stevenson and his family moved to Samoa, an island in the South Seas, where the natives nicknamed him Tusitala, the teller of tales. His other famous novels include Kidnapped (1886) and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886). Stevenson's works appeal to readers of all ages, and each new generation continues to find excitement in his writings. Folds, not at signature.

1/8-inch circular ink stain above writing. 3 pinhead-size holes at left blank area. Overall, fine condition. Framed in the Gallery of History style: 20½x22¼. For more documents by these signers click the names below: This website image contains our company watermark. The actual document does not contain this watermark. Our Signer Promotion is Back!!! 15% OFF ALL DOCUMENTS OVER $100! Try our Make-An-Offer Feature! Robert Louis Stevenson - Autograph Document Signed | Autographs & Manuscripts | HistoryForSale Item 76204 ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON - AUTOGRAPH DOCUMENT SIGNED - DOCUMENT 76204 ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON Scottish essayist, author and poet. Autograph Document Signed: "R. L. Stevenson", 1p, 7x4. No place, no date. To H. J. Morans, Esq. In full: "Please pay bearer £3 gold." Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894) signed this note authorizing three pounds gold to be paid to the bearer.

Known for his adventurous tales, Stevenson was an avid traveler who had begun writing in his teens. His first successful novel, Treasure Island (1883), was written for his stepson, Lloyd; it was originally entitled The Sea-Cook and appeared in serialized form in Young Folks (1881-1882) - a paper for young boys. He demonstrated his aptitude for poetry when he wrote A Child's Garden of Verses (1885). In 1889, Stevenson and his family moved to Samoa, an island in the South Seas, where the natives nicknamed him Tusitala, the teller of tales. His other famous novels include Kidnapped (1886) and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886). Stevenson's works appeal to readers of all ages, and each new generation continues to find excitement in his writings. Folds, not at signature. 1/8-inch circular ink stain above writing. 3 pinhead-size holes at left blank area. Overall, fine condition. Framed in the Gallery of History style: 20½x22¼.

For more documents by these signers click the names below: This website image contains our company watermark. The actual document does not contain this watermark. Our Signer Promotion is Back!!! 15% OFF ALL DOCUMENTS OVER $100! Try our Make-An-Offer Feature! Literary Encyclopedia | Treasure Island Young Adult Literature Treasure Island is an adventure story by Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson. Originally entitled The Sea Cook, Stevenson’s first novel was given its published title by James Henderson, the editor of the children’s periodical Young Folks, in which the story first appeared between October 1881 and January 1882. It was published in book form the following year by Cassell & Company, Ltd. Although it failed to make an impact on its initial appearance, its popularity soon grew and it has come to be regarded not only as a classic of children’s literature, but also of adventure fiction more generally, its popularity having been increased by numerous adaptations and the widespread cultural influence o… Please log in to consult the article in its entirety.

If you are a member (student of staff) of a subscribing institution ( see List ), you should be able to access the LE on campus directly (without the need to log in), and off-campus either via the institutional log in we offer, or via your institution's remote access facilities, or by creating a personal user account with your institutional email address. If you are not a member of a subscribing institution, you will need to purchase a personal subscription. For more information on how to subscribe as an individual user, please see under Individual Subcriptions . Citation: Evans, Dewi Llyr. "Treasure Island". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 10 January 2008 [ accessed 21 January 2017.] Related Groups Death of R. L. Stevenson Death of R. L. Stevenson By THE NEW YORK TIMES LONDON, Dec. 17.--A dispatch to The Star, dated Apia, Samoa, Dec. 8, confirms the report that Robert Louis Stevenson, the novelist, died suddenly a few days ago from apoplexy. His body was buried on the summit of Paa Mountain, 1,300 feet high.

The Westminster Gazette, in an article on the death of Robert Louis Stevenson, says that, although Mr. Stevenson was anything but apoplectic, there is little doubt that his untimely end was due to apoplexy, induced by the heat of the climate. He left a new novel half completed. The Gazette says the was among the most lovable of modern writers, and the news of his death will be heard with the keenest regret. Perhaps no author of recent years has enlisted so much personal interest on the part of his readers. The Pall Mall Gazette says that in letters recently written Mr. Stevenson said he had two novels practically completed, but could not be induced to part with them until they had received finishing touches. One is entitled "The Chief Justice's Clerk," the plot of which was foreshadowed in "Catriona." Those who have read portions of this work regard it as his masterpiece. The other book, entitled "St. Ives," is the story of a French prisoner who made his escape from Edinburgh Castle and had stirring adventures in a romantic district of Scotland. Mr. Stevenson had many shorter tales sketched out. He loved Samoa better than any other place, except Scotland.

His wife, interviewed recently, said: "We mean to live in Samoa always and leave our bones there." Stevenson's Forty-three Years Robert Louis Stevenson's full name was Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson, but the Balfour he had ceased to use. He was a native of Edinburgh, Scotland, and the date of his birth was Nov. 13, 1850. His father, Thomas Stevenson, had eminence in connection with lighthouses. For many years Thomas Stevenson was an Inspector of Lighthouses, and retained his activity in that office until near the time of his death, in 1888. On the English coast he was connected with the building of several houses; in the arrangement of reflectors he made important improvements, and some of his knowledge on the subject went into a book which he published on lighthouse optics. When he died his son wrote a sketch of his life, and one of his son's books was dedicated to him, "by whose devices the great sea lights in every quarter of the globe shine out more brightly." Thomas Stevenson, like most Scotchmen, had dabbled in theology.

In 1877 he brought out "Christianity Confirmed by Jewish and Heathen Testimony, and the Deductions from Physical Science." The work went into a second edition in the following year. Thomas Stevenson's devotion to lighthouses came to him by inheritance. His father was that Robert Stevenson who, between 1795 and 1840, designed no fewer than eighteen lighthouses for the Scotch coast, the chief of which was the famous one on Bell Rock, in which he improved on the one Smeaton had built at Edystone. Of his Scotch origin Louis Stevenson was always proud. He has said in one of his books that to be born a Scotchman is "the happiest lot on earth." But it was a privilege one must pay for. "You have to learn," he said, "the paraphrases and the Shorter Catechism; you generally take to drink; your youth, so far as I can find out, is a time of louder war against society, of more outcry and tears and turmoil than if you were born, for instance, in England.

But, somehow, life is warmer and closer, the hearth burns more redly, the lights of home shine softer on the rainy street, the very names endeared in verse and music cling nearer round our hearts." Stevenson's father intended him for a lawyer, and with that end in view carefully educated him at private schools and at the University of Edinburgh. He went far enough with his legal studies to be entered at the Scottish bar, and then changed the whole course of his life. He began to travel for his health, and in this found such enjoyment that he took to writing of the things he saw. Then it was that he entered upon the literary career which has given him fame and honor wherever contemporary literature is read. Before his travels began he had probably made some attempts at authorship, for to an earlier period belong these contributions which Mr. P. G. Hamerton obtained from him for his Portfolio and Leslie Stephen for The Cornhill Magazine. His first published books have date of 1878, when his "Inland Voyage" and "Edinburgh: Picturesque Notes" made their appearance. The first of these at once seized public attention. It was an account of travel in canoes by two friends, who took to Belgian and French waters.

It was the author's style which captivated his readers. Some one described it as a compound of Sir Philip Sidney, Lord Bacon, George Herbert, Stern, and Blackmore. He was seen to have rare humor, great insight, refined feeling, and splendid powers of fresh description. Mr. Hamerton declared that he was "one of the most perfect writers living, one of the very few who may yet do something that will become classical." The book on Edinburgh naturally appealed to a narrower audience, but it was greatly liked wherever it was read. He was not wholly complimentary, having the ability to see things as they were, but this style and his effective descriptions charmed all. Already had Mr. Stevenson begun to show his fondness for France. This was in part due to his uncertain health, but in part also to a genuine liking for the land and people. As early as 1876 he had spent a whole Summer there, and at Barbizon, Grez, and Fontainebleau American artists first made acquaintance with the brilliancy of his mind and the charm of his personality.

Out of this Summer came part of the experience recorded in "An Inland Voyage," and two years later French travel--the region of the Covennes--yielded up his "Travels with a Donkey," through which, in this country, his rise to fame really began. Of actual scenes of travel and adventures the book contained a small amount. Not the occurrences of the journey so much as the way things were told made the value of this new piece of composition. Critics saw an improvement on former writings. As he was more natural, so was there a corresponding absence of premeditated art. His sympathies with men and women were as generous as ever, but his humanity was more health, and his fun sweeter and stronger. Stevenson's next volume was his "Virginibus Puerisque and Other Papers," which appeared in 1881, and in the following year came his "Familiar Studies of Men and Books." Both contained matter that was repeated from the periodicals for which he had written--The Portfolio, The Cornhill, The New Quarterly, and Macmillan's.

In 1882 he published his "New Arabian Nights," with which were included some short stores that originally were published in The Cornhill and Temple Bar. Of this volume, The Saturday Review remarked that there was little be got from the stories but pleasure. It praised "their striking fertility of invention, their charming touch of chivalry, which is by no means too common, either in real life or in fiction, and that other quality of the author's also by no means too common, of making his readers' cup full of horrors, and yet putting no offense in it." When "Treasure Island" came out, in 1883, fame for Stevenson had already been achieved; but this work was to widen and deepen it everywhere. The book is said to have had its origin in a suggestion made to the author by a small boy, in whom he was interested, who repeatedly had asked him why he did not write something interesting, like "Robinson Crusoe." Although especially a book for boys, this work gave quite as much pleasure to folks grown to man's estate, and to whom tales of prowess and daring in the Spanish Main have always been captivating. What The Saturday Review admired most in it was, as usual, the style.

It said the book was "written in that crisp, choice, nervous English, of which he has the secret, with such a union of measure and farce as to be in its way a masterpiece of narrative." Mr. Stevenson's first visit to America had been made before "Treasure Island" appeared. In the Summer of 1879 he determined to make a voyage from Liverpool to New York in the steerage, and on arrival here he concluded to continue the journey on land in an immigrant car as far as San Francisco. It was an odd mode of travel for one with Stevenson's refinement and sensitive spirit, but with him love of adventure has ever been one of the strongest passions. We may, perhaps, call it an inherited taste--a survival in the tastes of the man of letters of what had been the daily habit and environment of his ancestors for two or more generations. Out of the American trip Mr. Stevenson got a series of magazine papers, and some years later a further fruit was seen in his book, "The Silverado Squatters; a Sketch from a California Mountain," which had to do with a deserted mining camp in the southern part of the State. Originally, the story was printed in The Century Magazine. Mr.

Stevenson's charming collection of verse relating to the inner life of childhood followed next. It was appropriately called "A Child's Garland of Verse," and only two years ago an illustrated reprint of it awakened new praises. Next, in 1885, came "Prince Otto: A Romance," in which he dealt with the morals of marriage, and in 1886 his "Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde," which has enjoyed the double reputation of great success on the stage as well as in book and story form. Mr. Stevenson has declared that the principal incident was dreamed by him many years before he wrote the story. In his dream he saw Hyde rush into a mysterious recess, take a drug, and then, by the terror that followed, was awakened. Such was the impression the dream made on him that it haunted him for years before he made a story out of it.

In the same year was published "Kidnapped," which was described as the "Memoirs of the Adventures of David Balfour in the year 1751." It told of his being kidnapped and cast away on a desert island, where he had many sufferings, and from which he escaped to the west highlands of Scotland, there to meet Alan Breck Stewart "and other notorious highland Jacobites." Balfour suffered much at the hands of his "Uncle Ebenezer Balfour of Shawes, falsely so called." Balfour was declared to have written these memoirs himself, and the adventures end when the hero is scarcely more than a boy. Most readers were reminded of it by "Treasure Island." The workmanship was admired and the horrors were related with such charm and freshness, joined to refinement, that readers of fine taste found the work a source of genuine pleasure.

Books which now followed were "The Merry Men and Other Tales and Fables," "Underwoods," a volume of verse; a "Memoir of Fleming Jenkins," and "Memories and Portraits," all in 1887; "The Black Arrow: A Tale of the Two Roses," in 1888; "The Master of Ballantrae," 1889; "Ballads," including two long romances of South Sea life, and "The Wrong Box," (in which he had the assistance of Lloyd Osbourne,) in 1890; and since 1890, "The Wrecker," (also with the help of Mr. Osbourne.) "Across the Plains, with Other Memories and Essays," and then his book on Samoa, which he called "A Footnote to History. Eight Years of Trouble in Samoa." More recently have appeared "David Balfour," (1893,) and "Island Nights' Entertainments" (1893.) The long story "David Balfour," was widely read in the year of its appearance, and has been greatly admired. Mr.

Stevenson, after the years spent in France for his health, sought elsewhere for a better climate than Scotland afforded. At one time he fixed his abode at Bournemouth, in the south of England, at a country home, which he called Skerryvore. Again he came to New -York and spent a Winter and some additional months in the Adirondacks, and finally he pitched his tent in Samoa. Great was the surprise of the public when it learned that to this remote Pacific isle the brilliant author had gone for a stay that would be prolonged, and might be permanent. He was dwelling in Samoa when the quarrel among the European powers occurred, with the awful disaster by which such wreck was done to the war ships of three nations. In his "Footnote to History," these Samoan events find extended narration in which are mingled accounts of beggars and planters, the strife of consuls, the awful hurricane, the scene on the shore and in the harbor when the hurricane had passed, and the making and unmaking of Kings, with the sorrows of one of them named Laupepa. Stevenson's marriage was as romantic as any tale he ever told.

Lloyd Osbourne, who assisted him in writing two of his stories, was the son of his wife by a former marriage, and when Mrs. Osbourne became Mrs. Stevenson she was recently divorced from her husband, Samuel C. Osbourne. She and Osbourne had been married in Indiana in 1858. Her maiden name was Vandergrift, and in 1861 the couple, with a son and daughter, started for Arizona with a few thousand dollars they had saved. Mr. Osbourne put his money in a mine, for which a few months later $100,000 was offered. Osbourne wished to sell, but his partner did not. They held on, and six months later the mine would not fetch a dollar. Osbourne, with his family, then went to San Francisco, and he so prospered as a court reporter that he sent his wife to Europe to educate the children. In Paris Mrs. Osbourne, in 1883, met Stevenson, and fell in love with him. Returning to San Francisco she obtained a divorce, and arrangements were at once made for her marriage with Stevenson. Osbourne was invited to the wedding and accepted.

On the appointed day he presented himself in faultless attire with a lady on his arm, whom he introduced as Mrs. Osbourne. To this lady Osbourne had been quietly married as soon as the divorce was granted. Some newspaper stories have declared that the divorce broke Osbourne's heart, but his prompt second marriage hardly bears out the story. In any event, it is known that as Mr. and Mrs. Stevenson took up their abode in Samoa, so Mr. and Mrs. Osbourne took up theirs in Australia. Each couple went to a land where all the old ties might be forgotten.

Question: Which Robert L Stevenson novel of 1883 was originally entitled ‘The Sea Cook - A Story for Boys’?
Answer: Treasure Island